Theros IV Sniper
by VegasSpartan
Summary: 2551. One year before the Master Chief finds the Halo ring. This is the story of the fight for the capital of a small colony through the eyes of Lance Corporal Logan Taylor, a Marine Sniper in Lancer Squad. Rated for violence and language. Please R&R!
1. CounterSniper

The Covenant were sitting at the far end of the plain to the east of the city, waiting for the order to attack. The capital city of Theros IV, New Moscow, was the last major human stronghold on the planet, and the Covenant wanted to change that.

The fourth planet in the Theros system had been fought over for the past month, and the UNSC was on the verge of losing the planet. Almost two hundred million citizens and Marines had been killed so far, and the top brass were getting ready to declare this colony another defeat.

But none of these things were in Lance Corporal Logan Taylor's mind as he crouch-walked along the outskirts of the city, looking for a good sniping position. The twenty-two year old Marine had just graduated from the UNSC's sniper training program, and this was his first deployment. He wanted some action, to take the fight to the Covenant, as he had been trained to do for the past year and a half.

Here. A low wall ran behind some trees on a small hill. Perfect: elevation, cover, concealment. Taylor crouched down behind it and propped up the bipod of his S2-AM rifle onto the wall. He briefly wondered whether or not concrete would stop a bolt of plasma. He discarded the thought and peered through the scope, looking for targets.

Not that red Elite. Not those two Jackals. There. A golden helmet glinted in the sun. He zoomed in, and let the rifle rise and fall with his breathing as he radioed in the sighting.

"Lancer-six to Lancer-lead, have spotted a commander, over."

"Affirmative, six. Do you have a shot? Over."

"Yes, sir. Should I fire? Over."

"Negatory, six. You know our orders. Report it to Archer. Lead out."

Lancer squad's orders were to take out Covenant snipers, to save the HVTs for Archer squad.

Taylor reluctantly tagged the target's location, and sent that along to Archer squad's leader. The data readout over his left eye flashed once and data scrolled across it.

**Affirmative. Target location received. Out.**

He frowned and moved his sights away from the golden Elite, looking for Jackals with sniper rifles. Unknown to him, one such Jackal spotted him first.

A flash of purple off to his right blinded him for a split second. The air crackled with heat, and Taylor threw himself onto his back instinctively.

"Covie sniper!" He almost screamed it into his mic.

"Calm down, Corporal! Are you hit?"

Taylor looked at the right side of his body. His uniform was singed a little. But no burns.

"Negative. I… I'm fine, sir."

"OK. You have permission to engage as soon as you find him. Out."

Taylor looked at the low wall in front of him. There was a small, smoking hole near where he had been crouched. That answered his question.

He crawled on his back two meters to his right, directly behind the tree. Slowly sitting up, he switched his scope to infra-red, and propped the bipod on the wall again. Looking through the tree, he saw a bright orange patch in the distance. He zoomed in and the blob took the rough outline of a Jackal.

Taylor's marksmanship training kicked in. He steadied his body, and held his breath. The crosshairs became nearly motionless. Slowly, the trigger came back toward him, and finally the rifle punched him in the shoulder. There was a loud _CRACK!_ as the round flew straight and true downrange. The Jackal dropped its rifle and fell backwards, clutching its chest, which was now only half there. Taylor exhaled.

His first kill.


	2. Corporal Patterson

The previous day had been mostly uneventful, with the exception of the Jackal snipers taking many casualties. 

But today was going to be different, thought Ulma 'Dolacan. The Field Marshal turned to the Spec Ops officer behind him.

"So," began Jolan 'Tesamee, "what is your plan?"

'Dolacan was briefly insulted by not being called "Excellency" by his subordinate, but thought better of killing him then and there.

"The attack will commence soon. But first, I want your team to take out the human snipers."

'Tesamee turned to his partner and repeated the order. The second Elite nodded and walked away. 'Tesamee turned back to 'Dolacan.

"It shall be done."

'Dolacan nodded and turned back toward the city. He smiled. A great battle was about to be fought. 'Dolacan was a veteran of many campaigns, and had come to view the Humans with a certain respect that most of the Covenant. While they were nothing more than animals needing to be wiped out, they were competent fighters. Sometimes he wished he had some of those "Marines" instead of the cowardly Grunts.

* * *

LCpl Taylor had spent most of the previous day performing counter-sniper duties, only getting six hours of sleep. Lancer squad had racked up sixty-seven kills, eleven of those claimed by Taylor.

He was sitting with his back against the low wall, cleaning his S2. He briefly thought about his life back on Earth, about his girlfriend, Erica. The thought was thrown from his mind as a chilling scream came in over his radio.

"Report!" Everyone responded, except for Lancer-seven.

"Taylor, check on Patterson!"

"Aye, sir. Wait one."

Taylor quickly reassembled his rifle, loaded it, and then slung it across his back. He then removed the M6D from the holster on his right leg and released the safety. Taylor started jogging towards Patterson's last position.

* * *

'Tesamee wiped the human's blood off his knife and returned it to its sheath. The young Marine had been an easy kill; 'Tesamee had simply walked up behind him and slit his throat.

His partner ran to him.

"Hide, brother! Another human approaches!"

'Tesamee nodded and engaged his camouflage. He ducked behind a nearby bush and waited for his next kill.

* * *

Taylor stopped and crouched down when he saw Patterson's body.

"Lancer-six reporting. Patterson is down, probably dead."

"Probably?"

"I don't know for sure, sir. I'll try to get closer."

Taylor brought the M6D up and started crouch-walking the remaining four meters to his objective.

He stopped when he heard the bush next to him rustle. Taylor slowly turned to face it. It shimmered a little, and Taylor froze with fear. He had heard stories of how ferocious the commando Elites were.

* * *

'Tesamee stopped. He was certain that the human had spotted him. He was staring right at him, almost as though he was looking right through him and into his soul. He knew this standoff wouldn't last forever. The winner would be whoever reacted first. He could thing of only one solution.

He lunged at the Marine…


End file.
